


May Peace and Order Reign

by spaceboyhello



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Gen, Horde prime is occupying Etheria and now what’s everyone gonna do!!, I don’t want it too shippy either?, Other, People are stuck on Prime’s spaceship, Regret, Temporary Amnesia, idk - Freeform, idk man this is just a post-season 4 story, kind of, lets save the world, let’s see how this goes, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21542758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceboyhello/pseuds/spaceboyhello
Summary: The Horde Empire has just started occupying Etheria, and the rebels are spread out and separated from each other. Hordak, Glimmer, and Catra have been stuck on Horde Prime’s ship and have to work together.Post season 4
Relationships: Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Scorpia & Perfuma & Frosta
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	1. Reconditioning

Hordak woke standing upright in an empty room. It was mostly dark, with only a faint gleam from the floor tiles. The only visible objects were thick wire bundles running alongside the edge of the nearest wall and ended at the base of a compact metal platform underneath his feet. Pressed along his back was something cold and hard, perhaps the metal backing to whatever contraption he was affixed to. He could only briefly register the small jolts of electricity along his spine, entering through the port on his back.

He’s not sure how he knew that the port was there, or how he knew what ship he was on. What he didn’t know was what this room was, and why was he here? 

What he did know for certain was that he was a clone. He was created to serve Horde Prime and act only as an extension for his ruler and master. Nothing more.

A fraction of light escaped into the room with the creak of a door. A heavily armored soldier marched in, clipboard in hand. They walked purposely up to Hordak, face obscured by a mirrored helmet. Hordak could see his green eyes stare aimlessly back, devoid of expression, emotion… Just as a clone should be.

“What is your identification?,” the soldier demanded tersely.

Without thought he replied, “Horde 0002.”

“And what is your purpose?”

“To serve Horde Prime and his Empire. To obey any and all commands given by our Emperor to ensure Peace and Order.”

The soldier scribbled onto the clipboard and lifted their wrist to speak into a recording device. “H0002 successfully reconditioned. Ready for Dismissal.”

The electric jolts pressing into Hordak’s spine immediately ceased. In what was once the dark room was now a green hue, lit by the new presence of an overhead light. 

The soldier tucked the clipboard underneath their arm. “Your reconditioning is complete. You may report back to your post.”

They lifted their free hand up towards their chest, crossing it with a tight fist. “May Peace and Order Reign.”

Hordak repeated the precise movement. “May Peace and Order Reign.”

Following the soldier out of the room, Hordak did not stop to pause at the doors next to his, some filled with green light and some sitting dark. He did not stop to look at a Horde clone being dragged by his hair into a vacant room. And he certainly did not stop to gaze at the wall of growing bodies, each encased in their own viscous membrane. 

Hordak was not meant to stop and wonder. He was not meant to ask questions.

But there was one word, only one word that threatened to dismantle that:

_Reconditioning?_

…

It’s been weeks. 

Glimmer hadn’t been able to see her kingdom ever since she was transported up to the Horde space vessel. She was stuck here, called a guest, but she knew that she was really just a prisoner.

They gave her a lavish room for Horde standards, primarily empty aside from the large bed and wardrobe. She might’ve considered the room hospitable, with the wardrobe filled with clothing her size, the daily meals, and the marvelous window that gave her the most beautiful view of the planet down below, Etheria.

Except for the fact that they kept her locked in there most of the time. The veiled threats to her home. The guards. The surveillance.

Except for the fact that it was the Horde.

Glimmer sat on the edge of the bed wearing standard Horde clothing. Her own clothes were probably blown into the vacuum of space by now. Too pink, too glittery, they didn’t exactly fit The Horde’s aesthetic. Glimmer traded them for the Horde’s green uniform, the colors different from the Horde back on Etheria, but the style remaining the same.

All that was left of her old self was stashed away underneath a loose floor panel: her crown.

When Horde Prime insisted she stay here as his “guest,” Glimmer wasn’t sure what to expect. She suspected that Prime was concerned with her inciting rebellion along the Princess Alliance had she been able to go back to Brightmoon. Was he doing the same to the other princesses? Were they also trapped in their kingdoms or in spaceships or some other place by Prime? 

Glimmer gazed out at Etheria, it’s beauty remarkable. The lush greens of earth cozying up to the deep blues of the seas. She almost destroyed that planet. It could have been bits of rock floating through space right now if she hadn’t been lucky.

Guilt overwhelmed her. Maybe if she hadn’t acted so fast, so irrational, none of this would’ve happened. If only she listened to her friends, Bow and Adora.

Adora.

Hot, shameful tears welled in Glimmer’s eyes. How could she say something so cruel to Adora? How could she ever accuse her friend for what happened to her mother?

Gulping down the hurt in her throat, the Queen of Brightmoon composed herself. She would play nice here, play nice with Prime. She would gather as much intel as she could on the Horde and then she would escape back to Etheria. Her friends were in trouble and she wasn’t about to disappoint them again.

…

It was only a matter of time until they figured out that Catra was lying out of her ass.

Of course she didn’t know anything about the “super weapon,” she didn’t even know it existed until Double Trouble told her about it. And yet, here she was, stuck in a laboratory on the Horde Prime ship, pretending she was some kind of expert. 

The lab was more of Entrapta’s scene, never Catra’s. She couldn’t care less about the experiments that went on in Hordak’s laboratory. As long as she got what she wanted, she didn’t care.

Catra fiddled aggressively with a couple buttons on the control board of god knows what, her nails leaving scratches on the metal surfaces. 

She didn’t like to think about Entrapta. She didn’t like to think about she was probably dead now. Thoughts of Entrapta led to thoughts of Scorpia, and thoughts of Scorpia led to thoughts of Adora. Thoughts of Adora were… never good. 

Then the vicious cycle would repeat itself.

_“But did you ever stop to think that maybe they’re not the problem?”_

Memories of Double’s words came flooding in Catra’s thoughts. She gritted her teeth and dug her claws into the palms of her hands. The sharp pain usually distracted Catra, but not this time: the floodgates were open.

_“It’s you.”_

_Goddamnit,_ she thought, shaking the pain away from her hands. She unceremoniously wiped her eyes, not even certain if tears were there. Hunching over the control board, Catra took a few shuttering breaths.

_This isn’t the time to have another breakdown. Prime is expecting information about the super weapon, and I have to be ready to lie again._

She composed herself, straightening back up and smoothing her hair down. Her lies had to be convincing, and that was difficult when you knew little to nothing about First One’s tech. 

Did she even look put together? Catra had seen the heavy bags that clung to her eyes, and her permanently frizzled hair. She was surprised Prime even took her serious—

The small green light in the corner of the room started flashing. Prime was coming.

_Shit._

Leaping over more junk she didn’t understand, Catra grasped a small communication device. She had made an ally here on Prime’s ship, and it had made the past several weeks just a little more bearable. But it wasn’t companionship she needed right now, she needed help.

Catra held down the speaker button and cleared her throat, “Hey, come in, Sparkles, come in.”


	2. Caught

Glimmer leapt from the bed when she heard the tell-tale beeping from the loose floor panel. She scrambled over to the corner of the room, and knelt to pry the panel open. Inside, laying next to the crown of Brightmoon, was a small communication device that Catra had managed to sneak to Glimmer just a few days after they had arrived on Prime’s ship. Glimmer wasn’t sure how Catra had come upon the device, and she’s not sure if she wanted to know at this point.

She jabbed the button on the side and a crackling voice spoke, “—in, Sparkles, come in.”

With a small huff and an eye roll, Glimmer pressed on the speaker button. “You know, it would be _nice_ if you would use my _actual_ —“

“Whatever, we don’t have time for this, princess,” Catra’s voice was abrupt and tinged with panic. “Prime will be here soon, and I’ve gotta have something to tell him.”

Glimmer had to think hard about what she tells Catra. While she didn’t know everything about what the First Ones had done to Etheria, she knew more than Catra. But she wasn’t about to tell Catra everything she knew, either. It was an intricate balance the Queen of Brightmoon had to consider. She didn’t quite trust Catra enough to be on her side if she told her everything she knew about the weapon. For all she knew, Catra could be just a few steps away from fully selling out Etheria for a title and some power in Prime’s empire. 

But, here, on this ship, miles away from Brightmoon and anyone who might help her, Catra was all Glimmer had. If she wanted Catra to be safe from Prime as well, Glimmer couldn’t just give her small scraps to pass along to Prime convincingly. The information had to be factual, but… presented in a way that was misleading. To buy Etheria more time.

“Well…” Glimmer began, “he already knows that it takes a combination of forces on the planet to activate the weapon.”

“Which of course you won’t tell me what,” Catra complained indignantly.

“Yeah,” Glimmer said in a huff, “and I won’t!”

The device went silent in Glimmer’s hand for a moment. When Catra’s voice came back, it was more subdued and softer. “Whatever…just…get on with it, princess.”

Glimmer cooled her temped. Maybe she’d been a little harsh. 

After all, they were on the same side. I think.

“Anyway,” The Queen began again, “we need to direct him towards something inconsequential. Something with enough promise of being the key to the weapon, but won’t have him accidentally figuring it out anyway.”

“What about Dryl? There’s tons of weird tech there that might keep Prime busy for a while.”

Glimmer weighed their options, “But what about Entrapta? She probably went back to Dryl after Hordak was taken. She knows too much about First One tech to fall into Prime’s hands…”

Catra’s voice went quiet again, then slowly started, “I…don’t think Entrapta’s in Dryl.”

“You don’t think she would have gone back there? All her work is there, it’s too risky.”

“No, Glimmer. I—I _know_ she’s not there.”

Glimmer didn’t understand, she furrowed her brows and spoke sharply, “Catra, I don’t understand. if she’s not there, then where is she?”

“I…”

“ _Where. Is she?_ ”

Glimmer waited, her breathing getting angrier by the second. 

Catra’s voice finally crackled back. “Beast Island.”

Glimmer stopped breathing momentarily. She knew that Entrapta wasn’t there by accident. Not after being involved with the Horde. They must have _sent_ her there. Glimmer was filled with rage. She had almost forgotten who she was talking to. Catra was never going to be someone she could fully trust. At the end of the day, she was just another Horde soldier.

“You know what?” Glimmer snapped, “Fine. Tell him to go to Dryl. It’s not like Entrapta will show up there again, _because she’s dead_!”

Glimmer snapped her finger off the speaker button and threw the communication back into the floor. She slammed the floor panel closed and hugged her knees up to her chest. 

How could she be so alone here, with only _her_ for company? 

The Queen lifted her head, her eyes resting on the sight of her beloved planet once more. The tears she was holding back before Catra’s call came flooding back, and she didn’t make any effort to stop them.

She wondered if she would ever see her friends again. 

…

Rage surged through Catra, and she hurled the communication device across the room, slamming it into a wall. She had passed rational thought and didn’t think to consider if she might have broken it.  
She wanted to throw something, hurt something. Anything to take out her volcanic self-hatred on. 

Catra grabbed a rolling chair, her sharp claws sinking into its cushion. She fiercely threw it across the room, the sharp banging and skidding of the chair dispelling some of the rage. 

Catra marched over to the corner of the lab where a small sink resided. Turning on the cold water, she splashed some on her face over and over, until she caught her own eye in the dingy mirror. The water continued to run as Catra studied her own face. 

Her eyes looked tired, _so_ tired. All of the regret and hurt that lived in her soul weighed down upon her face. 

Why had she suggested Dryl? If she hadn’t suggested it, Glimmer wouldn’t have questioned her about it, and then Catra wouldn’t be stuck here thinking thoughts of…

_Don’t think about Entrapta. Don’t think about Entrapta. Don’t think about Entrapta._

_Don’t think about Scorpia. Don’t think about Adora. Don’t think. Don’t think._

Rage built up inside of her again, her claws aligning themselves with her palms once again, drawing blood. The reflection stared back with hellfire in its eyes, challenging Catra to do something. Anything.

“ _Its’s you._ ”

She whipped out her hand, blood dripping from her nails, and swung it at the reflection. Catra let out a guttural yell as her claws met the glass of the mirror. “ _I hate you!_ ”

She rested her hands on the edge of the sink, breathing heavily. The energy was draining out of her, and now she just felt tired, with only the sounds of the water for company.Catra stared back into her marred reflection, the claw marks scuffing across her face with faint traces of blood. 

She tried to find her reflection’s eyes again, but they were now hidden by the marks. Searching deeply into the mirror, she saw—

“Emperor Prime!” Catra yelped as she spun around.

The Emperor stood hulking just inside the lab’s doorway, his face cold and hard. His eyes gazed coolly on the scratched mirror and running faucet. Am I… interrupting something?”

Catra blinked before spinning back around again and turning off the faucet. “Of course not,” she walked slowly towards Prime, “Emperor.”

He walked silently past her, flanked by two of his clones, and headed towards her main control board and a large screen. “Status report, Catra. What have you discovered?” 

Prime spoke the last words more like a statement, a command, than a question. Catra donned on a cool persona and walked confidently back over to the control board.

“According to my research,” she flicked on a switch. A large map of Etheria popped up onto the screen, one of the only things Catra had figured out how to do. “There are energy readings very similar to the planet’s core coming from this area.” 

Catra zoomed in on Dryl, its location not too far from where the Horde used to be. 

“If I am correct, and I undoubtedly am, the key to your weapon should be located somewhere in this place.”

Prime took one slow nod and turned towards Catra. “How certain are you that the key is here?”

She tilted her chin up to look directly into Prime’s cold, green eyes. “Very certain.”

Her stared into her for a long time, studying her under a microscope. She felt the wet drip of her blood run down her hands. 

Prime glanced at her hand watching the blood roll off and land on the floor.

He looked back up at Catra.

She twitched.

_Shit._

Prime’s eyes narrowed briefly and turned on his heel towards the door, his clones following his procedure.

“Send me the coordinates,” he said with his back towards her, arriving once more at the doorway, “I will send out my men tomorrow.”

Prime turned to give the wide-eyed Catra one last look, “Thank you for your _hard work_ , Catra.”

She gulped as he walked out the door, the metal clang echoing in the silent lab.

It might not have been obvious, but she knew. 

Catra was caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I promise there will be more than angst.
> 
> UPDATE: SO someone pointed out the Glimmer already knew Entrapta was on Beast Island... oops lol. Suspend your disbelief I guess? ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Going to continue with different character’s POVs. I accept constructive criticism!


End file.
